Music, decor and lighting are used extensively in night dubs and bars to create a dazzling, surreal atmosphere for a generation raised on video games, MTV, deafening music, fast action sports, and fantasy motion pictures of a high-tech future.
Lighted serving trays attractively complement the high-tech atmosphere prevalent at many night clubs and bars. Not only do the lights on the tray add to the atmosphere, they also make the tray visible within areas of low lighting intensity when being carried by a waiter or waitress, thereby reducing inadvertent collisions with patrons. At least several lighted serving tray designs are the subject of issued U.S. patents. The first, U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,289 to Ronald J. Krenn, discloses a lighted serving tray which includes a tray portion having flat bottom surface, a perimeter rim, and a hollow transparent tube attached to the tray adjacent to the perimeter rim. A plurality of lights, which may be LEDs, are attached in the transparent tube in a spaced relationship to each other and a battery is connected through an electrical conductor to each of the lights through a switch. A flashing circuit can be connected in the circuit. The second, U.S. Pat. No. 5,430,628 to Timothy R. Saunders, discloses a lighted serving tray having a discus shaped platter with an interior hollow in which a tubular light array is positioned. The tray includes a serving surface upon which drink glasses may be placed. A central transparent portion of the serving surface transmits light from the light array to illuminate a sponsor logo. The base portion of the tray may be translucent and colored light emitting. A case affixed to the serving surface serves both as a change compartment for use by the waiters/waitresses and as a housing for batteries which power the light array.
Although both of these inventions have been known to the public for at least five years, they are very scarce in the bar and nightclub environment. The reluctance to purchase large quantities of these devices may be due, in part, to the relatively limited charge life of the batteries. The problem of limited charge life is exacerbated by the need to manually cut off power to the light arrays when the trays are not in use. During business hours in a bar or nightclub, a serving tray spends about half its time parked on the bar counter awaiting the loading of drinks prepared by the bar tender. During these periods, there is little reason for the lights of the tray to be draining the batteries. If the lights were automatically shut off when the tray is not being carried, battery life could be doubled. Another potential problem with these prior art devices is the location of the batteries on top of the serving tray. If a drink is spilled, electronic function may be easily impaired. Another problem is the location of the power pack. By having the battery pack on top of the serving surface, wiring must pass through the serving surface to the light array below. At least in the case of U.S. Pat. No. 5,430,628, a sealant must be used to prevent leakage into the lower chamber. Reliability of the electronics is dependent on the effectiveness of the sealant used and the care with which it is applied to the wire pass-through aperture in the serving surface. An additional disadvantage is the need to change batteries frequently. Although battery life may be extended by providing larger capacity batteries, the additional weight required by a larger battery pack increases the load that a waitress must carry while serving patrons.
What is needed is a lighted serving tray which eliminates the disadvantages of no automatic light shut-off feature, battery pack location above the serving surface, and a need to change batteries every day or two of use. These improvements over the prior art devices must be delivered by a new serving tray that is durable and inexpensive to manufacture and maintain.